Perspective is a good thing
Going on vacation is vital because it gives you perspective. Gaining perspective is vital because it allows you to see life a little more clearly. Gaining a better perspective allows you to identify what you want to strive for and wipes away the haze that prevents reality from shining through. And seeing life a little more clearly allows you to reduce your myopic, self-centered vision of the world. Which is vital in this world now about as big as the search box on Google’s home page.
It is good to gain perspective, to get out of your own little box. Many don’t have proper perspective. They think their accomplishments or their problems are the hub of the universe. As was clear this past week, a lot of politicians don’t have proper perspective, as well. And to make this country better, they need to get it. And quick.
In talking with reporter Peggy Roberts this week about her recent visit to the Statehouse with Rep. Gary Moore of Standish, it was interesting to hear her take on the day’s events and the impressions she got by being at the seat of Maine governing power. Looking past the clichA?©d political divisions that have come to define Augusta, she was most impressed with the Statehouse’s capacity to be a dynamic place where democracy plays itself out in real and concrete terms. During a committee hearing, she witnessed a respectful and thoughtful deliberative process. She watched as Democrats and Republicans worked to get things accomplished.
It was nice to hear this perspective. It was unusually positive. The news business, and life in general, can be wrought with negativity. We listen to politicians spin things to make themselves look good and their dissenters look bad. It is good for our perspective to consider the positives that our form of government represents. And these positives revolve around the principle of citizen involvement in the governing process. That’s what we Americans do better than the rest of the world, and in the heat of the moment, it’s sometimes nice to dwell on the positives of our democratic system. But you need a good perspective to see and emphasize these positives.
A good example of leadership that doesn’t have proper perspective is about 700 miles to our south. To put it mildly, there was some heat in Washington D.C. this week and last. (By the way, I went on vacation there last week, hence why I’m writing about gaining perspective this week!) Perhaps you watched the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. You watched how one side of the chamber would rise to praise the president’s comments as the other side would stay seated in a pouting slump. Or maybe you caught some of the political manuevering surrounding Judge Alito’s confirmation hearings. Wasn’t it amazing to see the Democrats say they weren’t going to filibuster, then say they were and then say they weren’t? Quite entertaining, really. It was like watching a cloud of pigeons quickly darting in sync to and fro in mid-air.
But it just goes to show that our representatives are sometimes not out for their constituents’ best – they’re out for their best, and their party’s best. Isn’t it funny how much groupthink goes on in Washington? These people obviously have lost their perspective. All the Republicans can’t be in one accord, but they tend to vote en masse. And all the Democrats seem to be shepherded by a few key leaders and vote the way their leaders do. It’s the same refrain in Augusta, for the most part, although not as bad. Lousy representatives succumb to the Us vs. Them camp mentality and lose sight of the stuff that binds us together.
We need leaders who see beyond their self-interests, who can show how politics can be positive, not divisive. And, possibly, that will blow over onto the rest of us who emulate the behavior of our leaders. Maybe America would indeed become a better place if we had some people in power that practiced true nonpartisanship.
Above all, what should guide politicians is common decency – dare we say, respect – for people who don’t agree with them, not the roll of eyes that we saw from both sides of the aisle these last few weeks. Obviously, these folks need a vacation so they can gain some fresh perspective. And some may even want to make it permanent.
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